Arvis
''"Dude lasted seven minutes against Gravatus... I'd say he should at least be respected for that." ''- Verun Arvis was a Jedi Sentinel during the time of the Old Republic. He was known for his neutrality and his time as a vigilante, during which he drove a personal crusade against poverty. History Arvis pretty much climbed the ranks of the Jedi at an average pace - no shortcuts, nothing of note. He slowly grew a reputation, though. While some considered him one of the most logical, honest Jedi to exist, many veteran Jedi Masters saw his tactics as foolish and cowardly. Where most Jedi would draw a line, Arvis would search for more outcomes and, at times, choose a path that was considered more of a Sith's type of area. Because of this, Arvis got a lot done during his time, eliminating some dangerous Sith Lords and even working to turn a Dark Jedi back to the light. His humanity gave him an edge over other Jedi, whereas his unorthodox methods got him criticized. Revanites Arvis took a liking to Revan, realizing that he was one of the few beings in the galaxy to serve both the Sith and the Jedi. Due to the Revanites being mostly Sith-based, though, he was never given the opportunity to join their ranks. However, he did manage to infiltrate one of their camps and study their teachings, giving him more knowledge about certain Force abilities that he didn't know of before. In the end, he was nearly caught and he was forced to flee. Hoodbeard After becoming a Jedi Master, Arvis was shunned by a large portion of the Jedi for his unusual beliefs. He wasn't extreme enough to be excommunicated, but he was lucky to even get the Master title. Due to this, he received few missions from the Jedi Council and was mostly used as a warrior in battle, for he was known to be an excellent swordsman. Because of the lack of work he'd been given, Arvis took it upon himself to take up a life as a sort of vigilante on Coruscant, raiding cargo vessels of smugglers and taking down organized crime. Additionally, he would free Hutt slaves, hunt down violent Bountyhunters, or stopping Sith spies on the planet. During this time, he concealed himself with a dark cloak which he sometimes manipulated to appear on various sides of his face. Using Force rituals, he would keep his identity a secret by never showing his full face to anyone. This technique created an eerie, spastic quality on his features, earning him the title Hoodbeard after some citizens witnessed him take down an entire gang of Mandalorian elites single-handedly while his ritual made his hood appear to protrude out of his face. Excommunication Despite his carefulness, Arvis was found out by the Jedi after only a few months of his secret hobby. While some Jedi opted to allow him to remain within the Order, the majority vote forced Arvis to abandon his title as a Jedi. It didn't take long for him to continue his crusade, though, moving his focus to various planets and fighting crime, poverty, and oppression. The Mighty Hoodbeard lived on, overpowering the few who opposed him and remaining a symbol of neutral Force-sensitivity. Additionally, a smuggler who held similar beliefs to Arvis joined his crusade, going by the name of "Captain Kreepa." Together, the two became known throughout the galaxy and their "vigilantics" lasted over a decade. Many Jedi took portions of what Arivs believed, taught, and did into importance. Despite his forced exile, the Jedi Order made use of Arvis' wisdom in combat training, reading artifacts, and philosophical beliefs. Thus, he was still respected by some members of the Order, especially those who maintained a sense of neutrality themselves. Those who know of his alter ego paid respects to him and never once did a Jedi interfere in his missions. The League of Shadows During the War on Erebus, Arvis had heard a lot about Dark Lord Goldvanius, the head of the League of Shadows. Eventually, the vigilante sought out the Sith, aiming to end his reign of power. Sure enough, Arvis ambushed Goldvanius on Dromund Kaas and the two entered a shot confrontation. Somehow the former Jedi was quick to best the Dark Lord in a lightsaber duel, forcing Vanius to resort to Force powers. Unfortunately for Arvis, he was no expert in such a field, and he was obliterated with Force Lightning and dark curses. Goldvanius, however, did not kill the vigilante Force-user. Instead, he spent days trying to convince Arvis to join his cause - a "crusade" against Erebus. After Vanius detailed the size and influence that Erebus possessed, Arvis was actually enthusiastic to join the effort. It didn't take that much for him to turn from attacking the Sith Lord to temporarily aiding him when he realized how widespread Erebus had become. Arvis assisted in several battles against the armies of Erebus, even taking down some Jedi who were secretly part of the organization. Arvis was never directly part of the League, but he knew a handful of its members. In fact, he'd even clashed with a few of them during his time as "Hoodbeard." Despite this, his combat skills, strategies, and tactics made him quite valuable to Goldvanius and his power structure, and Arvis was considered an ally to both the Dark Lord and the League during the War on Erebus. Death The alliance between Arvis and the League of Shadows was short lived, however, with the former Jedi infiltrating an Erebus facility on Hoth. After managing to take down the defenses and security of the entire base all by himself, Arvis called in the League to assume control of the outpost. It was only held a day, though, because the Dark Master himself led a charge against it almost immediately after it was taken. Being relatively close to The Heart of Sombra, the base held no chance against Erebus, especially with the organization's leader storming it himself. Arvis, along with a considerable LOS force, fought off a quantity of Erebus' troops and Force-users. However, the "Mighty Hoodbeard" was slain in battle when he was attacked by Dark Master Gravatus, who, despite Arvis' mastery at lightsaber combat, outdid him in a heated duel that lasted nearly seven minutes. Gravatus remarked after the battle that he could have annihilated Arvis, but that he stuck to lightsaber techniques because he always values a challenging practice session. Additionally, the Dark Master made it clear to the League that he knew Arvis was there and had anticipated the strike against Erebus' base for weeks. To make matters worse for the League, Gravatus threatened to obliterate any small legion of the League's forces if they should thin themselves out to such little numbers. This warning made situations for the League difficult, as they weren't nearly as large in numbers as Erebus was. Legacy Despite the tragedy of his death, Arvis left a decent following behind him. His assassination led to increased alliances between Jedi forces and Imperial Intelligence, allowing for troops from both armies to fight for the same cause. Unlike the Revan incidents on Yavin IV, the War on Erebus led to more under-the-radar alliances, not full-pledged fleets working alongside each other with Marr and Shan in the same room. Nevertheless, Arvis' death aggravated the Jedi enough to act against Gravatus, creating the largest force of resistance that Erebus would ever see - the combination of Jedi extremists and the League of Shadows. Plus, a cult was formed to honor Arvis' deeds as a Jedi vigilante. Dozens of loyalists and supporters would chant "HAIL HOODBEARD!" without even knowing the man's full name. Weapons/Abilities Arvis used two sets of lightsabers - two mint green crystals and two purple crystals completed his arsenal. During his days as a Jedi, he would use the green, whereas he took the purple sabers into battle as Hoodbeard. After he was excommunicated, he used both. Despite being a Battlemaster known for impressive skills with Lightsabers, Arvis also practiced some powerful Force rituals and studied a lot of artifacts from both the Jedi and the Sith. He had a knowledge of many Force abilities that his fellow Jedi didn't even know existed, but he was unable to perform most of them because he wasn't the strongest Force-user. His Force-using skills were rarely used; Most opponents he faced could easily be taken down with his lightsabers. However, he did make good use of different energies he learned to manipulate to his advantage in combat. Channeling natural substances like water was easy for him, while he also controlled different levels of Force energy that were unique to Force-users. The biggest way that he used these powers was to channel energy through his lightsaber strikes and deal bursts of damage or enhance his speed with the Force. In battle, the sight of Arvis was a quick vibrant blast of colors and fire. Opponents Arvis faced many opponents in his days, downing several Sith Lords and even a corrupt Jedi. He managed to dismantle Dark Lord Goldvanius in melee combat quite easily, and he even lasted a good period of time against Gravatus, who had slain hundreds of Jedi and Sith alike. Ultimately, the latter proved too much for Arvis to handle, and thus he was defeated and left to die among a pile of flaming corpses. Gallery Arvis8.png Arvis6.png Arvis3.png Category:SWTOR Fiction Category:SWTOR Category:Fiction Category:Fictional Character Category:Republic